Old_John_T
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Joined Jun 08, 2004
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Re: Recharging house batteries
Good question "Can I charge those batteries faster by starting the in house generator at the same time charging from two sources?" "GENERALLY SPEAKING" YES its like filling a swimming pool with two garden hoses versus only one HOWEVER this is all subject to the quality and capacity of your in house charger/converter as well as how your alternator is set up to charge the house batteries when driving. If you use wire to basically place the house battery in parallel with the engine battery when driving, how many actual charging amps the house battery may get is subject to the wire size, length of the wire run, and the alternators regulation. In addition be sure to NOT overload the engine alternator. Often (subject to many variables) the quality of this charging scheme doesn't yield a high degree of quality or quantity house battery charging, but hey if it pumps any charging amps it can help. It will NOT be the same quality and completeness of charge a 3/4 State Smart Charger would provide. NOTE its best if the house and engine batteries are the same chemistry in this situation. While Ive used this method over the years and sure it can "help" it never seems to fully or completely charge the house batteries like my onboard 3/4 Stage Smart Charger can. For a better system use a DC to DC Charger that shouldn't over tax your alternator plus provide a better quality charge to the house battery when driving. John T BSEE,JD Retired Electrical Engineer and 49 year RV owner516Views0likes0CommentsRe: 30amp camper plugged into 110 home outlet
If you have a 30 amp RV and use the adapter I think you have (or similar) you still have household 110/120 voltage, but now fewer available amps to power your RV appliances. HOWEVER as the distance of any extension cord increases and as the wire size is reduced VOLTAGE DROP ACROSS THE CORD INCREASES. Depending on the length and current draw and wire size, you could end up with considerably less then the household voltage you started with. When I get over 50 feet I prefer 10 Gauge RV extension cords for RV use to reduce line voltage drop. Sure 12 Gauge or even less will supply small current RV loads, but if you're talkin an AC or Microwave etc Id like 10 Gauge especially for long runs. Again this all depends on distance and wire gauge and current draw so the above is ONLY general information. John T Retired Electrical Engineer12KViews0likes0CommentsCorpus Christi Texas Campgrounds
Im planning a short weekend motorhome trip to Corpus Christi and want to be on the Ocean (actual Gulf NOT inner bay) and looked at a couple County Parks IB Magee and Padre Bali. Any comments on either or which may be best??? Old John T from Indiana2.4KViews1like7CommentsRe: Onan 6.0 CCBK Cranks over too slow
THANKS KELLEY the parts and wiring manuals show me the parts I suspected to be condensors are indeed that and it gives me the sizes. Im having the owner clean and polish the rings and commutator etc as I think all the 40 yrs of dirt and oil and gunk on the rings and commutator has to contribute to slow cranking John346Views0likes0CommentsRe: Onan 6.0 CCBK Cranks over too slow
UPDATE I pulled the big brush cover off and theres 40 years of dust n dirt n crud and the slip rings nor the commutator are clean n brigth n shiny plus a wire was broke off one of the slip ring brushes that leads to something that resembles a big condensor??? No idea what it is. Next is a good clean up n check brush hold downs and their length etc n see where that wire was supposed to go??? The batterys and cables and grounds are all new n clean n bright so I suspect the brushes for now John T346Views0likes0CommentsRe: Onan 6.0 CCBK Cranks over too slow
Thanks, I got the manuals and they match his genset. When I saw this start n run the last time it was in his RV Bus conversion which had six deep cycle golf cart batetries in series paralell for 12 volts and A TON OF CCA AND AMP HRS more then he has now. Im going to check his ground connection tomorrow. John T in Indiana348Views0likes0CommentsRe: Must-have upgrades...what are yours?
Here are the upgrades I did on my 2001 Four Winds Five Thousand 29 foot Class C, mostly because we do a lot of extended dry camping and I wanted to be able to dry camp 8 days before I had to dump and take on water, which is the limiting factor when dry camping. Added an aux 80 gallon fresh water tank (total now 110 gallons). Added an aux 40 gallon grey water holding tank (total now 80 gallons) Added an aux 10 gallon black tank Added a water pressure regulation tank so pump dont short cycle and pressure remains more constant Added 200 watts of Rooftop Solar Panels and Charge Controller, depending on sun and angle it can pump 16 amps into my house batteries Added Four Six Volt true Deep Cycle house batteries for total energy storage capacity now of 460 Amp Hrs. I removed the wimpy factory semi deep cycle RV/Marine battery Added Max Air foof vent fans Added energy efficient Fluorescent lights Added a Xantrex Truecharge2 Smart 3/5 stage battery charger to replace the factory installed junk noisy hot buzzing Converter/Charger that can ruin house batteries Lots of other stuff including a china toilet. Using ONLY our own facilities the two of us can stay out 8 days or so and thats long enough anyway lol before its time to dump and take on water Old John T in Indiana435Views0likes0CommentsRe: How often do you use your built in generator?
Even if I used it seldom, I just wouldnt travel without an onboard Generator. Going down the road or boondocking we kick it on for the microwave. We do a lot of boondocking at BLM and Natl Forest camps plus bluegrass festivals and big antique tractor shows where we may dry camp a week SO WE NEED ONE BAD John T in Indiana137Views0likes0CommentsOnan 6.0 CCBK Cranks over too slow
My buddy has an Onan 6.0 CCBK 3R-1600 D LP Gas Generator SN 0772474342 out of an old Travco Motorhome and I heard it start and run like a year ago. He just re installed it at his home for a backup and has two new 12 volt batteries wired in paralell for the cranking system all new good cables etc BUT WHEN HE TRIES TO START IT SHE CRANKS OVER SO SLOWWWWWWW AND TOO SLOW TO START. Its one of those generator self start types NOT an independant DC starting motor unit. I cant find a manual for the 6.0 CCBK LP gas and does anyone know where to get one and/or why it cranks over so slow despite two new 12 volt paralell batteries and new cables n connections etc. Old John T in Indiana2.3KViews0likes10Comments
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